


Nail Party Revelations

by Marmarhargreeves



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Good Sister Vanya Hargreeves, Self Harm, Sibling Bonding, nail party, not graphic or explicitly described
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 06:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18244733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marmarhargreeves/pseuds/Marmarhargreeves
Summary: Klaus and Vanya realize they have more in common than they once thought.





	Nail Party Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> this sorta popped into my head as im tryna fall asleep so...i tonight why not!! i love the idea of Klaus and vanya bonding - I feel like they’d be really patient w each other since the entire family was never patient with them. Love my kids. Also I uhhh indulged myself a bit there w/ all that music talk. I’m not a music major but like 70% of my friends (I play cello violin n bass hehe) so I had to project a bit!

Vanya gripped her bow tighter in frustration. She had been working on the same Vivaldi excerpt for the last hour and she couldn’t get these four measures right. Four stupidly difficult, dumb measures. She had her juries coming up as well as orchestra seating auditions and she just wanted to redeem herself. She wanted to succeed, make her family proud. Make herself proud. 

She took a deep breath, shook out her right arm and shoulder, then replaced her bow on the string. 

“You got this.” She whispered to herself softly, affirming her abilities. 

She started the passage a few measures before with ease. However as she approached the dreaded four measures, her confidence and sound quality quickly declined. It was a 32nd note run in multiple different positions. Her hand and fingers had to be fast and agile, they had to hit every single shift with the upmost accuracy. Not to mention the sudden change in key signature. She had to have this entire piece memorized for her juries in two months. It was a daunting, difficult task to say the absolute least. She is, after all, just a few steps away from getting her masters in Violin performance. 

She stumbled through the measures before immediately starting it over, not allowing herself or her brain a break. It was imperative that she got this down. 

“Hey Van Van?” She didn’t hear her brother open the door, his voice knocking her out of her concentration. She ended the passage abruptly, turning around to see Klaus in the doorway. 

“Uh, hi Klaus.” Vanya tilted her head, “I’m sorry I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I didn’t bother knocking. I figured my sweet voice would be a less disruptive way to get your attention.” Klaus piped from where he stood, a small grin on his face. 

“You’ve been working at this a while.” He took a few steps into her room and sat down on the bed, “Why don’t you give that beautiful brain of yours a break, yeah? Sometimes practicing too much can hurt.” 

Vanya blinked, processing her brothers advice. She knew he was right. Constantly pounding the same thing over and over had the possibility of being counter productive.  
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” she chuckled softly at Klaus and rubbed the back of her neck. As kids, the curly haired boy was always a little more gentle to her than the others. 

After seeing his baby sister locked up in that cage, seeing the absolute terror in her eyes, he knew they had more in common than they once thought. They all had been making efforts to never let her feel like she wasn’t being heard again. Klaus is eternally grateful for Five; he warped himself in the cage with her for the rest of the night. He talked her through what she was feeling and experiencing for hours. He made sure she was safe. They were lucky. 

“I’m always right, dear sister!” Klaus stood up and took her violin and bow, loosening the wooden stick for her. He placed the instrument down on the bed and grabbed her hand. 

“Follow me. We are having an impromptu nail party.”

Vanya made a small whimper in protest, “Klaussss my nails are gross and short...”

“Nonsense! That’s nothing a little splash of color can’t fix.” 

Vanya didn’t have a choice as she let her brother drag her to his room. She always loved Klaus’ room. Everything he is as a person was plastered around the space. Scribbles on the walls accompanied with various posters and flags (NB and rainbow flags). He had an open closet that was filled with anything and everything from military jackets to sequin gowns. His shoe rack was just as impressive. She always respected Klaus’ ability to walk in some hellishly impossible shoes that put Allison’s own heel collection to shame. 

Klaus led Vanya to the bed before making his way to the bathroom. He opened up a drawer and took out a clear box filled with every single color of nail polish you could imagine. Hey, he was putting his inheritance to good use. 

“Now,” Klaus made his way back to the bed and placed the box in front of his sister before sitting down on the other side of the bed. “What color are we feeling?” 

Vanya scanned the box, rummaging through the various bottles. After careful consideration, she picked up a muted, matte blue and examined the color. “I like this one.” She smiled softly. 

“Stunning choice, Van! This will look incredible on you.” Klaus took the bottle from her, “give me your hand.”

Vanya obeyed and reaches out her hand. Klaus lightly held onto her tiny hand and started applying the polish. 

“Oh, here lemme just push your sleeves up a bit...” Klaus said mid painting her pinky finger. He tugged at the sleeve before her felt his sister completely tense up. Upon closer examination, he saw why. 

“I,” Vanya squeaked, her mouth gaping. He was going to judge her. Klaus was going to hate her, call her weak. This was so stupid, she was stupid. She shouldn’t of agreed to this, it was a dumb idea. Now she was making Klaus feel uncomfortable. 

“Hey, hey. No, none of that okay?” Klaus set the nail polish down on the bedside table. He could literally hear the self destructive thoughts pouring out of her. He gently pushed the sleeve higher, revealing Vanya’s cause of mood change right in front of him. 

He eyed the many lines that were scattered on her arm. They started a few inches below her hand all the way to her elbow. They were mostly faded, however many of them were raised. How had he not noticed this before? He promised to do better by her. 

“I haven’t um, done it in 11 months and 4 days. I haven’t actually been this clean in a while.” Vanya’s voice trailed off, avoiding her brothers eye contact. She hasn’t sounded that small since before their near death experience. 

Klaus silently gave her hands one last squeeze before standing up himself. He lifted the grey, pleated skirt up to his waist and revealed his own scars that littered his thighs. They were similar to Vanya’s in that they were also faded. Vanya couldn’t help but make a small whimper. She slowly reached out and ran her index finger along the raised, bumpy are of his skin. 

“I-I had no idea...” 

Klaus smiled sadly at Vanya, releasing his skirt and sitting back down. He grabbed her hand with only a half painted pinky once more. 

“It’s okay. We all have our own past, you know? I had this problem for um, a while. I’m assuming you too?” Vanya nodded, “Well drugs sort of took over and that became my self destructive coping mechanism of choice. But after...everything, sobriety was just too much. I relapsed a couple months ago but I’m doing a whole lot better now. Diego was there for me, and I want to be there for you, okay? This whole being a family thing works, believe it or not!” 

Vanya reached out and wrapped her arms around the taller ones neck, him wrapping his arms around her waist. 

“I love you, Klaus.” Her voice was muffled in his shoulder. 

“I love you too, lil sis.” He kissed the side of her head and ran his hand through her soft, brown hair before releasing his embrace. 

“Shall we get back to our original task at hand?” Klaus grinned expectantly, clapping his hands together. 

Vanya giggled, which quickly became one of Klaus’ favorites sounds in the world, and nodded.

“Yes please. My nails are in desperate need of your undying love and care.”

She placed her hand in his ‘goodbye’ hand, “You have come to the right place!” He kissed the top of her hand and said, “m’lady” before quickly going back to work. He took his nail artistry very seriously.

“You know, we really gotta thank Allison for teaching me her ways. I hope I can be your instructor to you as she was to me. You can pass these skills on to your lil musical babies. And you can tell them the legend of us, your own personal beauty gods.” Klaus rambled, filling the air with his nonsense. 

“Ah, but of course! Myself and all 20 of my music babies will be forever in your debt. I’m making my own symphonic orchestra you know.” Vanya agreed, a fat grin on her face. 

“Good, I’ll be the best fairy god Klaus to ever live.” Klaus said before bursting out in a howling laughter. Vanya quickly followed suit, laughing so hard her stomach hurt and tears sprang from her eyes. It took over an hour before all 10 fingers were expertly painted, but she enjoyed every single second of it.


End file.
